From blowers and saws to music, council deals with sounds of the city

Wood chippers and chainsaws were on everyone's lips at a recent Saratoga City Council meeting as the city's elected officials discussed how to move forward with a decades-old noise ordinance.

While the council unanimously approved the noise element in the city's General Plan, it could not reach consensus on March 5 on an ordinance that contained recommended amendments to various city codes related to noise control, among them policies on outdoor music and the use of loud garden tools on weekends.

The process of updating the document started last year. Public meetings were held in August to gather ideas from residents on sources of noise and concerns about anything noise-related in their neighborhoods, from barking dogs and noisy cars to the sounds of loud parties and leaf blowers.

Following these meetings, San Francisco-based Charles M. Salter Associates undertook a project that entailed using a listening device to determine background ambient noise in the community and creating noise contour maps.

The modifications the firm recommended to address the noise issues raised by the community included proposals to change the permitted starting hour for the use of gasoline-powered leaf blowers from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturdays.

The same Saturday hours were proposed for gasoline-powered chainsaws, which can now be used Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This was a point of disagreement on March 5 among council members who were divided as to whether to ban the use of chainsaws altogether or leave the recommended restrictions in place.

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Much of the discussion also was focused on a proposal to apply the city's distance restrictions only to amplified music and not to acoustic music at outdoor events.

No consensus was reached after a lengthy discussion on both these issues, so the council decided to continue discussion of the noise ordinance on March 19.

Updates were made to the noise element, a separate document from the noise ordinance that "identifies areas where noise exceeds acceptable levels, and evaluates existing and potential sources of noise so that noise may be effectively considered in the land use planning process."

Changes made to the document included a simplified goals section and discussion of environmental noise fundamentals such as the frequency spectrum of sound, the variation of sound with time, the human perception of sound levels and the effects of noise on people. The document also includes an implementation measure specifying that city contracts should encourage the use of equipment that incorporates the latest noise reduction techniques.

The noise element is one of seven elements in the city's General Plan, a document that sets the goals and policies for the city, and guides the future of the city's development. The other six are safety, land use, circulation, housing, conservation and open space.

The city's noise element report is a searchable document at saratoga.ca.us.